Our daily adventures in homeschooling and de-cluttering/cleaning. I have such a hard time keeping a clean and organized house but with daily prayer and work, I am trying to de-clutter and organize our house to become a home.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Today is the last day of the 30 days of Thankfulness series. I honestly did not think I would make it through the last 30 days but with the Lord's help here I am on the last day. Today I am thankful for quiet time with my girls. Today was a fun day spending time outside while the girls played. Mommy hasn't felt well this week so we did not get any school done but we did make memories. While I type this the big girls are stringing popcorn to put on their outside Christmas tree to feed the birds. Since Abby is so small we don't want to chance her allergies with a real tree inside and the girls really wanted one so we cut down a small tree to put outside on the porch.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Today I am thankful for opportunities to play with my children. A while back we made edible play dough and stored it in the icebox. Today the girls decided they wanted to pull it out and play with it again. Unfortunately it was hard and crumbly so I experimented and brought it back to life. The girls are now happily sitting around the table making "gingerbread" men and other Christmas "cookies" out of their play dough. Just for the record even though it is edible, it doesn't taste very well.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

We only have two more days to the month of November. I have slipped up and forgotten to post each day on my Thankfulness but each and every day I have been blessed beyond belief and am Thankful always for the things I have been given. I pray for my friends and family and am thankful that the Lord Jesus is my Savior and has blessed me even though most days I don't deserve Him. Thank You Lord for sacrificing on the cross to save me from my sins.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Today I am thankful for the medical profession. Without their tireless pursuit of education we would not know when something is seriously wrong. We often think that we are fine until an appointment shows things are not quite right. Thankfully they are educated enough to figure them out and help us fix things. I am praying that the problems that have been shown to us are small problems that are easily fixed. Either way I am thankful that the doctors have taken the time to educate themselves.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Today I am thankful for time spent with my children who bless me everyday with their presence. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have been given with my girls. I couldn't imagine life without my girls. Today we are going to spend the day doing household chores. I have termed Mondays HomeEc day in our homeschooling adventures. So today we do laundry, clean house, and get things ready for another week of learning.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thankful for life and health. Today has been a hard day trying to get everything done around the yard before the hubby goes to work. But thankfully we both have health to be able to do these things.

November 19

Thankful to have a paid for house to live in. Concerns with money do not affect where we will live. So very thankful for having our house.

November 20

Thankful for family. Tonight was the first Thanksgiving meal with family. Thankful that we were able to spend quality time and eat good food with family.

November 21

Thankful that today my husband was able to go to work. After a year with no employment, he finally has a great job and today was the first day he worked. YAY!!! so very thankful for this opportunity for our family.

November 22

Thanksgiving Day!! Today I am thankful for family and friends and great food. We had a great day with our family and friends eating a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together. I couldn't ask for a better day!

November 23

Today My husband had his first official day of work. He worked Wednesday at the shop but today was his first real day working. I am so blessed that God has helped us through the past year. I am also blessed to have good friends who are always there for us no matter what. I couldn't do it without yall...

November 24

Today I am thankful for new life. My husbands cousin and her husband have been trying for a baby for 15 years and today is their baby shower to welcome their new bundle to be delivered Monday. I cannot wait to see the new blessing. God has proved himself once again. When the doctors say it's impossible He proves them wrong everytime!!

November 25

Today I was blessed to wake up to a peaceful quiet house with my beautiful babies sleeping peacefully. I was able to spend half an hour relaxing and enjoying the quiet. I am thankful for little moments of quiet alone time.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Today I am thankful that I am healthy and able to be the mom that says yes that sounds like fun when the girls wanted to build a fire pit. Daddy told them to start collecting limbs to have a small bonfire so they wanted to make an area to burn it in. We (with the help of their Uncle Craig) built a mini fire pit and spent the evening collecting wood then burning it in our new firepit. They loved it as did the grown ups. So for the time spent with my family I am thankful.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Some days in life are more aggravating than others. Today was one of those homeschooling days that make me question why I decided to homeschool the girls. Destinie was determined to fight me every step of the way. She is so ready for next weeks break for Thanksgiving and did not want to complete her work. After a lot of fighting, crying, and taking away of points and privileges we finally got her school work done.

Once everything was put away she was a happy go lucky free child and was no longer aggravated or emotional. It's amazing how quickly she can change her moods based on what I need her to do.

The big girls and I have been working on excavating Mount Washmore the last couple days. We no longer have a mountain of dirty clothes but rather a mountain of clean needing to be folded and put away clothes. So our pile is being renamed Mount Foldnow. Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to folding and putting away all these clothes. Then cleaning the hallway. Hopefully next week we will have time to tackle the Master bedroom which will be our last battle after the hallway and Mount Laundry is done. Wish us Luck! We shall need it!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Today I am thankful that I have a great family who are always there to help out with whatever project we need them to. Today we started building our new porch. My father in law found a great deal on the boards a few months ago and bought them for us. Because of him I am going to have a bigger better porch that I know will be much safer....

November 11, 2012

Today I am thankful for all of our veterans, past, present, and future for their sacrifices in the name of freedom. Without them we would not be a free country and our children would have a much more uncertain future. So thank you to all the countrymen who fight (fought) for our country, including but not limited to my husbands cousin, Kristina, and a great friend of ours Ricky. We do appreciate all that you have done for us.

November 12, 2012

Today I am thankful for the ability and know-how to buy groceries on a VERY limited budget so that I can feed my children. Thanks go to my mother in law for teaching me how to shop on a budget for good deals.

November 13, 2012

Today I am thankful for my husbands cousin and father who have helped us to build our porch. without their expertise we would have a crooked porch that wasn't stable.

November 14, 2012

Today I am thankful for my new safe porch. It is completely safe for my children to play on and there is no risk of them falling off. So thank you to Tanzy, Roger, and dad for building us a great porch.

November 15, 2012

Today I am thankful for opportunities for employment that my husband has found. Hopefully this is the last step to take to full employment. This past year has been rough but things are starting to look up. Crossing our fingers and praying hard that we are finally on the upswing after this year.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Today we (the whole family) got outside and cleaned our yard... for those who actually know me yall know that our yard is huge.... so cleaning it is always an all day task. We unfortunately did not have all day as daddy was gone half the day. But we got out there and did it anyway when he got home. We spent several hours out there and got most of the yard clean and wow! What a huge difference it made. We are a tad bit overly proud of ourselves.

Tomorrow starts another day of work though. We still have a lot of yard to clean up and get looking nice. We also are building a new porch because the existing one is getting a little (okay a lot) to rickety for safe crossing. So we are going to tear down that one and build a bigger one with a roof so even on rainy days we can be outside.... I cannot wait!!!!

Today we hurt from all the raking, bending, hauling, raking..... but today is over and my house is clean and my yard is cleaner.

Today we (me and the girls) also did 4 complete loads of laundry. As in washing, drying, folding, AND putting away of 4 loads. Mount Washmore is starting to shrink!!! We also got all of our daily chores completed!!!!!

Today I am thankful for being saved. The Lord works through us throughout our lives to come to Him and become saved. Jesus died on the cross to take my sins from me and for that I am thankful. Without His sacrifice I would not be able to one day join Him in Heaven. It took me a long time to come to the realization that I am a sinner and need to be saved but once I did I realized that a large piece of my life was missing. My prayer is that all my friends and family will one day come to this same realization and become saved so that we may all be together in Heaven. Also that by my examples and teachings, my children will do the same.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Today I have not one but two days worth of checking to post. Yesterday and today I got all of my chores done. I even got one section of the master bedroom clean. Today me and the hubby got his desk cleaned, inside, outside, and underneath. The girls and I got all of our housework done before Glee came on at 8 so we were able to sit down and spend the hour together.

So there we have it. Three days in a row I got everything done minus laundry and the master bedroom which are multiple day chores to complete but which I am working on slowly but surely.

Maybe by next week I can say my entire house is clean but then who knows between now and then I may slack off again. I am going to have faith that I won't though. It only took us 30 minutes to put supper away, clean the kitchen, living room, all three kids rooms, and the bathroom along with sweeping each of those rooms. I say if we keep that up we may succeed after all....

Today I am thankful that we are a family that loves no matter what.... Sometimes we have days where we just cannot seem to get things going but under everything we always love each other. I am thankful that I was granted my husband and children to love each and every day!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Today I am thankful that I have the opportunity to teach my children all they need to know. Without the blessings of homeschooling, I would not have the chance to direct my children in the ways of learning. Both the big girls are doing so much better in their behavior and I attribute this to the fact that they are not learning from their peers but rather from their parents. Their grades have even improved. I was worried that I was not "good enough" to teach them but each day they show me that something I have taught them has clicked. God gave me these children to raise and teach and so I shall to the best of my abilities and with the Lord's help throughout. For that I am thankful.

Unload (morning) didn’t
get to do it in the morning because I did not run

it the night before but had to run it during the day so it

was unloaded before supper

Load

Morning check

Noon check

Night check

Run check

Wipe counters/stove check

Sweep

Kitchen check

Living room check

Hallway still haven’t gotten all the laundry
done so still can’t

finish cleaning the hallway with all the clothes created

by Mount Washmore

Clean

Kitchen check

Living
room check

Hallway See above

Bathroom check

Clean bedroom This
weeks major project!! Hopefully by the end of the week I can say check to it

Destinie’s check

Antionette’s check

Abigail’s check

Laundry

Wash 2

Dry 2

Fold 1

Put away 1

Slowly but surely we will
get done with the laundry….

Over and above all I did
get a lot accomplished today because of the major de-cluttering and organizing
we have been doing for the last month. Each day it gets easier to clean each
room because we are keeping them de-cluttered. Just two more big projects and
we may have a clean house.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Today I am thankful that we as Americans are granted the right to vote for our president. Women were not always able to vote but our country is one who adapts and changes regularly so now we women can vote and we should. Today is election day and we are on the cusp of change. Will the country continue on with President Obama or will Mitt Romney become our next president? We shall see in a few hours what the country has decided. Whether we were always allowed to vote or in the scheme of things just recently were granted that vote, we should all be out there voting for who we feel is best suited to run this country. So I am thankful for the right to do that. We very well could be living in a country that takes that decision out of our hands and be living in a dictatorship but we are not so we should be grateful for our freedoms.

A day late once again but here it is. My mother in law was in the hospital all weekend sick with pneumonia and was finally able to come home so I spent the day over there helping her out. I made her a yummy vegetable soup to help her recuperation go along better. For my thankfulness for Monday I was thankful for my inlaws. When I got married I was 18 and very unequipped for the tasks of daily married life. I did not know how to cook or run a house but thank goodness my mother in law was willing and able to help me learn those things. She taught me how to cook so that my poor husband wouldn't have to eat burnt suppers our entire marriage. (though he did eat quite a few of them for a while). Not to discredit my father in law either, he can cook up a storm himself. Between the two of them, I can now cook with the best of them. Proof of my skills being better was yesterday when mom asked the father in law to go get me to cook her soup because I knew how she liked it.... if that doesn't make a girl feel good I don't know what will!!!

I am and forever will be grateful for my inlaws. They have always been here for us through everything and have helped make sure to this day we are never without love, caring, or stuff we need.....

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Today's thankfulness post is dedicated to great friends both in real life and in Internet land.... Without my friends life would be really boring and lonely so I am thankful for finding such great people to surround me with love and that I can support and love throughout their lives. So Jessi, Brandi, Heather, Carly, Malissa, Janelle, and sooooo many more than I can name... I love all of you and am thankful we have each other.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Today I am thankful that I was blessed with a husband that understands me and my faults and loves me anyway. No matter what I do or don't do, how many times I try and fail, or how much I say I will do but don't finish, he still loves me. We may not have a perfect marriage but we are happy. We may not have the best of everything but we are together. Sometimes we do not have anything but once again we have each other. At the end of the day, that is all that matters. We have each other to help the way seem easier. 14 years ago I wouldn't have believed it if anyone had told me we would be married with 3 beautiful daughters but the Lord above knew what He was doing that May night. He brought to me the best husband a girl could ask for. So today and every day I am thankful for my husband who loves me through and through. I love you Tanzy

Today's post is coming to you a day late due to unforeseen circumstances. Yesterday (the 2nd) I was and am thankful that the Lord above has seen fit to bless me and my family with love and courage to get through each and every day no matter how hard it seems to be. The path of life will not always be easy nor will it be peaceful but at the end of that road I know that the Lord will be there for me always. Even those days when I sometimes feel I walk alone, I must remember that the Lord is always by my side and He walks with me through everything, comforting and protecting me and my family.

Sometimes life gets in the way of our best intentions. I had every intention of teaching the girls, cleaning house, working on my blog, cooking supper, and list of other things.... none of which got done yesterday....

My mother in law is sick and the doctor decided she needed to be in the hospital so instead of getting anything done at home we left and raced to the hospital. So yesterdays thankfulness post went by the wayside, the house didn't get cleaned, the girls did not get their schooling in, and supper did not get cooked. But we cannot always predict what life is going to be like so we just have to take it as it comes and start again the next day.

So today I got up and

I made my bed!!! I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually made my bed. Oh wait yes I can... when I washed the bedding after hubby being sick a couple weeks ago....geesh I am a slacker....

But hey I did it today so that is what counts. Today I have a made bed.
I haven't done anything else today but I did do that. So one step at a time right.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Today I spent the entire day thinking of all the great things I have in my life that I am thankful for. As the day went by I had one major thought in my head that I was going to use today. As I sat here about to write todays thankful post, my 10 year old came up beside me to see what I was doing and asked what 30 days of thankfulness meant. After explaining to her that being thankful means to be happy with the path that God gave us and thank Him for each thing we have in our lives, she leaned down and hugged my neck and said, "I am thankful I have the greatest mom in the world." At that moment I realized that my earlier idea just would not fit now. So instead todays thankful post is dedicated to my wonderful children and the blessings they have brought to my life every day since they were born. Without my children I would be lost in this world. And so today I thank God for my girls. I love you more and more each day, Destinie, Antionette, and Abigail. My sweet sweet blessings.

A few weeks ago we changed up our schedule because the girls and I were feeling overwhelmed and we needed a change.
We started in August following a schedule that almost exactly mirrored the public school schedule and slowly but surely we got to where we were not excited and happy to start the school day and instead we were dreading getting started each day. We then took a two week break after the first full six weeks and re-evaluated our situation.
The hubby and I talked about how to make homeschooling work and fit us better. We didn't want to quit homeschooling but we knew something was going to have to change if we were going to keep going. We started talking about how back in high school we had block scheduling where I sometimes only went to school two days out of the week and other weeks it was three days. I so much enjoyed that schedule my senior year. It made it easier on me to finish all of my school work, work a full-time job, learn to take care of our first house, and deal with the morning sickness that I was blessed with three months before I graduated.
Now thankfully I am not dealing with such a heavy load but keeping up with a house and raising three beautiful daughters as well as teach the older two their p's and q's is still a stressful situation at times.
So we worked out a schedule where we have 3 day weekends and a four day work week. The girls are off Mondays to take care of any appointments, big cleaning projects, and just generally relax another day. We also cut down the amount of work that I thought they HAD to have each day to "keep" up with the public school kids, not taking into account that we are NOT public school kids and we do NOT have to keep their schedule but instead take each day as a blessing to be together and learn. So now each girl has a slightly different schedule from each other but each still gets the full education they need. The amount of time we spend studying and learning has drastically gone down using this schedule the last two weeks. They both would normally be working for hours past the expected time and both them and I were feeling like we might never finish each day. By the end of each day we were so exhausted we weren't even wanting to spend time doing anything fun. We just wanted to go straight to bed. Now we are getting done quickly and no one is stressed and wanting to pull our hair out.....

Sometimes it is best to take a step away and re-evaluate the situation and change things to make them work for you instead of against you!

I had such high hopes for myself and unfortunately I did not fulfill my side of the deal. I had last posted almost two months ago with the great news that I was finally done with the laundry (Mount Washmore as my darling husband named it). I set up a great schedule for washing clothes and keeping up with the laundry and as sometimes happens, the best laid plans fail. I just knew the new schedule was going to work and be great for keeping up with the laundry but like usual with me it seems I can not keep the momentum up. Less than two months later Mount Washmore has returned in full force and like usual I am overwhelmed. Today though is the first day of a new month and so I am going to put into motion a new me (hopefully). For the last two weeks I have been washing dishes, wiping counters/stove/table, sweeping the floor, picking up the living room, and sweeping said living room every night before I allow myself to relax and go to bed. So far it is working and I am keeping at least the front part of the house clean. (you know, the areas the people actually see when they come over).
On Monday, I had the two bigger girls go into their caves and clean them out. Now we can see floor again rather than EVERYTHING that was on the floors. Luckily the baby doesn't make as much mess yet being she IS only 18 months old so it is easier to keep her room clean as long as we keep the big girls out of there.
My big plan to clean the master bedroom still hasn't come to fruition but I know eventually I will have to get in there and get it done. I just don't know when. Sometimes I feel so discouraged and like I won't ever get finished decluttering and cleaning my house.
I just have to keep trying and not give up. Giving up means that I really won't ever get done so I refuse to fully give up... Become discouraged and disappointed in myself but not giving up.